This year's PIAF the best yet

It infiltrated the pockets of Perth for 23 days and nights, drawing in half a million spectators and 750 artists from around the world.

With almost $5-million in tickets sold, the Perth International Arts Festival has had its most successful year at the box office yet.

But for the event's artistic director, Jonathan Holloway, that is not the biggest achievement.

"There's a real sense of excitement; our audiences have reacted brilliantly to the art, they've debated it and discussed it and seen the ideas and the stories," Mr Holloway said.

"It's really just that sense that people have jumped in with both feet and enjoyed the festival, got excited.

"They've bought tickets to complex work, they've seen fireworks, they've looked at the world turned upside down and twisted and turned in new different ways."

Something for everyone

This year saw more free events than ever before.

"It's work which people can get hold of, can grab, can see, it costs nothing but it can be so rewarding for everyone involved, both them and for us," Mr Holloway said.

This year, an art installation using light bulbs in Kings Park, entitled 'Scattered Light', became the most viewed piece of visual art the festival has ever hosted.

It featured 1,600 light bulbs, suspended from the trees in a grid-like pattern, with images reflected within as the lights flickered.

The man behind the lights, Jim Campbell, says public interaction was an important part of the piece.

"When you look at this work from straight on you can see the image but when you look at it from other angles it's completely abstract, so it changes almost kind of in a reactive way as you walk around it," he said.

"That becomes the way that the work is interactive with the viewers.

"I learn a lot from that in terms of future works; I've always watched how people interact with my work, how they respond, how much time they spend."

Another free event, 'Bombs per Minute', pulled in a 50,000 strong crowd to Langley Park with its vibrant pyrotechnics display.

"We will always have great free work in the festival, I think it's an absolute cornerstone to what we do," Jonathan Holloway again.

"It works so well because it's matched by world premieres and some of the world's greatest performers.

"Festivals should have a really strong free component just to appeal to absolutely everybody."

With offerings in music, dance, art, drama, circus, writing, there really is something for everyone.

"We look at our demographics; who's bought tickets, who's attended free works, it's geographically completely spread all around Perth but also beyond that to the rest of Western Australia and beyond.

"We want to bring in the largest and widest and broadest possible audience into Perth to see extraordinary work and change people's perception of what this amazing city is and can be."

Local exposure

From a performer's perspective, the festival provides a world stage for local talent.

Actor Jacob Lehrer was part of 'La Marea', a free and un-ticketed event, which took over Subiaco's Rokeby Road for four nights.

"It's always a privilege to perform at a large international arts festival," he said.

"A lot of the time working in the arts is a hard grind, I mean it has its rewards but they can be few and far between and working with such a magnificent team that run the Perth International Arts Festival, it's just nice to be treated like an artist and get a little bit of recognition."

He says the show, set on a busy road in the middle of Subiaco, captured people's attention whether they set out to attend the event or not.

"We basically took over the street, that part of Rokeby Road, and there was a lot of people [for whom] that was just part of the way that they walked to get somewhere in Subiaco," he said.

"I think that free performance, especially within an international arts festival, is fantastic because it makes the art accessible to a range of people who might not know that the festival is on, or might not be able to afford to see some of the bigger shows.

"I've had people say to me that they know that street very well and now after seeing the performance they can't walk down it the same way because they look at that window and remember what was happening there.

What next?

Organisers say they're already planning and booking acts for next year and beyond.

Jonathon Holloway says it's too early to say exactly what will be on the bill at future events, but it's clear Perth has the appetite for more.

"There's kind of a sense that they want more of absolutely everything," Mr Holloway said.

"This year we sold so many performances out, so many performances had no tickets left.

"I think society more and more is returning to live events and live activities, people are wanting to go out, physically leave their house after work and see something amazing.

You have no doubt been hearing a lot about the Paris Agreement and know that it pertains to climate change, but are too embarrassed at this stage to ask for an overall explanation of what it's all about.